The Ambassador of Ukraine visited the South Korean NARO spaceport
14 November 2019 03:43
On November 13, 2019, Н.Е. Ambassador of Ukraine O.Horin paid a working visit to the NARO Space Center, the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) test facility.
During the meeting, participants discussed the possibility of expanding cooperation to implement the Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Korea on cooperation in the use of outer space for peaceful purposes of December 18, 2006.
The high potential of Ukraine in the field of space technologies, which opens considerable prospects for further cooperation, was also noted.
At present, the Republic of Korea has successfully launched one KSLV-I commercial launch vehicle. On January 30, 2013, 100 kg of payload was launched into orbit. The next launch of the KSLV-II - South Korean rocket launcher capable of delivering 1.5 tons of payload is scheduled for 2021.
In comparison, Ukrainian Zenit launch vehicle are capable of delivering up to 14 tons of payload to orbit. Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, called the Zenith launch vehicles, developed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, mass-produced by the Yuzhmash Plant (Dnipro), the best in the world (in his words, "after SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle").
In total, Ukraine has conducted 164 launches of commercial launch vehicles since 1991. During this time, Ukraine has launched into orbit nearly 300 satellites, performing contracts with various countries in the world.
An example of fruitful cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Korea was the Ukrainian launch vehicle "Dnipro", which successfully launched three Korean satellites KOMPSAT-5, KOMPSAT-3, KOMPSAT-3A three times into orbit.
Ukrainian enterprises create their own launch vehicles and participate in the creation of launch vehicles around the world. For example, for the European launch vehicle "Vega" Ukraine produces now the upper stage main engine (the 15th launch "Vega" was made in 2019) For US launch vehicle "Antares" - the basic design of the first stage. Оn November 2, 2019, another successful launch of "Antares" was made. It is promising to implement the project of commercial development of a space rocket complex with a Cyclone-4 launch vehicle.
During the visit it was emphasized that Ukrainian space industry is actively involved in international cooperation and open to dialogue on new projects.
